HomeAnswersCardiologyprecordial catch syndromeIs precordial catch syndrome serious?

I have sharp chest pain at the start of the cleavage line, and seems to be left-centered. Why?

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The following is an actual conversation between an iCliniq user and a doctor that has been reviewed and published as a Premium Q&A.

Medically reviewed by

Dr. K. Shobana

Published At April 4, 2021
Reviewed AtJuly 7, 2023

Patient's Query

Hello doctor,

I am a 36-year-old female, slightly overweight, and have high triglycerides. I have sharp chest pain that happens very fast, only lasting a second but occurs randomly during the day. I had this throughout my life several times. The pain occurs in the upper center of the chest right at the start of the cleavage line and seems to be left-center. Prinzmetal's angina seems possible to me due to happening at rest, except that it never has happened at night or woke me up never between midnight and 8 am. It may only occur three times a year and is something that comes out of the blue. What could this be? I really would like some insight before seeing a primary doctor and understand better what this could be?

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

The sudden onset and offset of pain in the chest is usually due to muscular and skeletal causes, which may be due to trauma. The pain aggravates with movements and deep breathing. Other such sudden sharp pain is called precordial catch syndrome (PCS), which aggravates with inspiration or expiration and is usually on the left side. In both cases, painkillers help. Remember, there is no tenderness in this syndrome, whereas, in the case of trauma, tenderness may be present. Anxiety can aggravate precordial catch syndrome. So avoid it, as simple exercise also helps. Sometimes shallow breathing for a minute also relieves the pain, and deep respiration relieves the pain in precordial catch syndrome, at the expense of excruciating pain for a period of deep respiration. I hope this answers your concern. You will have to do Holter monitoring for seven days or more for vasospastic angina, depending upon the frequency of symptoms.

Same symptoms don't mean you have the same problem. Consult a doctor now!

Dr. Muhammad Zohaib Siddiq
Dr. Muhammad Zohaib Siddiq

Cardiology

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